


Ultimate Analysis Storytime!

by Cecileen_aka_C2



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: I'd Like To Blame My Intelligent Side, May I Present The Most Colorful Fanfic In The Entire Site, Punctuation Is My Great Enemy, Viva La Linguistics, Viva La Physics, Wikipedia And Wiktionary Are My Baes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27650723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cecileen_aka_C2/pseuds/Cecileen_aka_C2
Summary: Welcome to my collection of SS analysis!Since I am more active on AO3 than on Tumblr, I decided to publish the 'essays' here on Ao3.Updates will be inconsistent, judging from how long the first one turned out to be...But please enjoy!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Significant Naming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So let's begin with the basic: names. 
> 
> What are the meanings of their names? From what words they are derived from?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is MY Thanksgiving break and I get to choose how to spend it

** Logan /ˈloʊ.ɡən/ **

As confirmed in Q&A, Logan’s name is derived from the term logos, which is derived from Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos.) Lógos has various translations: “that which is said (word, sentence, speech, quote, story, plea, opinion, debate, discourse, utterance),” “that which is thought (reason, consideration, computation, reckoning. calculation, expectation, proportion),” “an account, explanation, or narrative,” “subject matter (ground, study),” “oration,” and “ratio.” 

Aristotle, an Ancient Greek philosopher, identified logos as one of the three modes of persuasion—devices in rhetoric, the art of persuasion, that classify the speaker's appeal to the audience—alongside ethos and pathos. It refers to “reasoned discourse,” “the argument,” “logical appeal or the simulation of it.” A logical appeal means utilizing facts and figures to support the speaker’s claims or thesis. In addition, a logical appeal also enhances ethos because information makes the speaker appear knowledgeable and prepared.

Although I explained one of many translations of “lógos” as “word” just like it is conventionally done, it does not mean “word” in a grammatical context. For that, the term λέξις (léxis) was used. Remember the definition of the word “dyslexia?” Léxis means: “a saying,” “speech,” “a way of speaking,” “diction,” “style,” “word,” “phrase,” “explanation,” and “a word peculiar in form or significance.” Clearly, it has more grammatical meaning than lógos. Though, both of those words are derived from an Ancient Greek verb λέγω (légō) which means “(I) arrange," "gather," "choose," "count," "say," "speak.” The Danish plastic construction toys company sharing the same spelling is a pure coincidence—its name is derived from the Danish phrase “ **le** g **go** dt.” (play well) 

So fanders, please consider using “Lexi” as genderbent! Logan’s name. I know Logan is technically a gender-neutral name, and it still is a cool name, but just for the sake of differentiating. Sincerely, a linguistics nerd. 

On the other hand, the given name Logan is derived from the Scottish toponymic surname (a surname derived from a place name) of the same spelling. The likely origin of the surname Logan is located near Auchinleck, a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The village name is derived from the Scottish Gaelic "lagan," a diminutive (root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, the smallness of the object or quality named, or a sense of intimacy or endearment) of "lag," which means “dell/hollow.” So the name Logan means “little dell/hollow.”

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** Roman /ˈɹoʊ.mən/ **

As confirmed in the Q & A, Roman’s name comes from Romanticism, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that emphasized on emotion, individualism, and glorification of the past and nature—preferring the medieval rather than the classical—and flourished between the 1800s and 1850s. While its embodiment is strongest in visual arts, music, and literature, it also impacted historiography, education, chess, social and natural science, and politics to a significant extent. To borrow Joan’s words, Romanticism is linked with the quality of being individual, subjective, irrational, imaginative, spontaneous, and fanciful. 

The name “Romanticism” is derived from a word “romantic” and a suffix “-ism” that indicates action, process, system, tendency, condition, or ideology. “Romantic” is borrowed from Late Latin “romanticus” which means “(of a poem) having qualities of a romance.” The word “romance” is derived from Vulgar (Colloquial) Latin "rōmānicē" (in the Roman language, i.e., Latin) which comes from Latin “rōmānicus” (of the Roman style) and “rōmānus” (of or from Rome/the Roman Empire.) Romance languages, such as Spanish, French, and Italian, are modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. Rome, or as written in its original Latin name, Rōma is named after its legendary founder Romulus. The suffix “-ia” that is used in forming names of countries, diseases, flowers, and implies femininity is added to his name, so it really means “land of Romulus.” Now, almost everyone might have heard of Romulus’ twin, whose name was… 

“Romance” initially denoted a composition in the vernacular—the language or dialect spoken by ordinary people—as opposed to works in Latin. Early usage of vernacular verse was associated with the theme of chivalry; like stories that involve knights, heroes, adventures, quests, etc. 

The concept of “love” and “genre centered on romantic love” was not brought up until the mid 17th century. In addition, the word “romance'' developed other meanings, like the early 19th century Spanish and Italian (two of _Romance_ languages. Coincidence? I don’t think so) definitions of “adventurous” and “passionate,” which could intimate both “love affair” and “idealistic quality.” Thus it adopted new definitions such as “an intimate relationship between two people (a love affair),” “a strong obsession or attachment for something or someone,” “pure or beautiful idealized love,” and “a story or novel dealing with such idealized love.” 

The trace of the origin of the word being “stories” can be still found in modern Romance languages: “Roman” means “novel” in French. Kind of ironic, considering how Roman canonically speaks Spanish not French (just for your information, I am a HUGE sucker for hispanic! creativitwins,) and the word “novel” in Spanish is “novela.” 

Furthermore, “romance” acquired the meaning of “a mysterious, exciting, or fascinating quality,” “an embellished account of something (an idealized lie),” and “a dreamy, imaginative habit of mind; a disposition to ignore what is real.” Call me crazy, but don’t those definitions remind you of certain Sides? Especially the words “mysterious,” “idealized lie,” and “ignore?” Can that be an implication of Roman is actually darker than he aspires and claims to be? Something like… vanity? After all, in the color wheel, he is the only original Core Side who is surrounded by the Dark Sides (well, one Dark Side and one _former_ Dark Side)—red is surrounded by orange and purple, blue is surrounded by green and navy, and navy is adjacent to purple. 

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** Patton /ˈpæt.ən/ **

As confirmed in the Q & A, Patton’s name is derived from the term pathos, which is derived from Ancient Greek πάθος (páthos.) Páthos has (surprisingly) dark and deep definitions: “pain,” “suffering,” “death,” “misfortune,” “calamity,” “disaster,” “misery,” “any strong feeling,” “passion,” “emotion,” “condition,” “state,” “incident,” and “modification of words.”

Pathos, another modes of persuasion identified by Aristotle, is an appeal to emotions. It can be accomplished in many ways: by a metaphor or storytelling (also known as a “hook,”) by passion in the delivery of the speech or writing (which the audience will determine,) or by personal anecdote. To borrow Joan’s explanations, morality is practically an emotional appeal, and logos and pathos can work together because they are a dichotomy—a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different. (Opposites attract, y’know?)

The spelling itself also reminds of other words such as “paternity,” (fatherhood) “paternal,” (of or pertaining to one’s father) and “patriarch.” (the male head of a household, or chief of a race) All of these words share an origin: “pater,” Latin for “father.” It would be unnecessary to mention how that matches Patton’s “Dad” character. Interestingly, in _many, many_ languages—if not all of them—the words for “father” include either voiceless bilabial plosive /p/ or voiced bilabial plosive /b/ sound. Similarly, the words for “mother” include voiced bilabial nasal /m/ and open front unrounded vowel /a/ because those two are the first consonant and vowel sounds a baby can make. 

The name Patton comes from an English surname of the same spelling, which is derived from a diminutive of Patrick. Patrick is taken from Latin name "Patricius," which means "nobleman." Patton can also mean “warrior’s town,” with a place name suffix “-ton” being derived from Old English “tūn” (town.)

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** Virgil /ˈvɜːɹ.d͡ʒᵻl/ **

As confirmed in Q & A, Virgil’s name is derived from a Roman poet named Publius Vergilius Maro, usually known as Virgil or Vergil, (both are acceptable anglicizations) fulfilling the crew’s wish to fit him with Roman in some way. Virgil is a poet himself, just like his namesake, as he said to Logan in “My NEGATIVE Thinking”:

_I would write an angsty sonnet illustrating my contempt for you if I actually cared enough about what you were saying right now._

The earliest poetry exists in a form of songs such as hymns and chants—it is a verbal art that predates written text. And drama is considered as a genre of poetry in general. But that is not the only one way Virgil and Roman’s name origins are related. Vergilius takes the credit for three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the _Eclogues (or Bucolics),_ the _Georgics,_ and the epic _Aeneid._ Aeneid tells the legendary story of a Trojan hero Aeneas, whom Vergilius depicted as an ancestor of Romulus and Remus.

Scientific research has found that anxious people tend to be more intelligent. Now scientists are suggesting that there is a link between anxiety and creativity. History can provide ample examples of artists with mental illness—Beethoven might have been a victim of mental disorder. Mozart too might have had a psychiatric disorder. Vincent van Gogh and Edvard Munch suffered from anxiety throughout their lives. I dare to rephrase this into “Anxiety is what fuels creativity.”

Vergilius is also famous for his appearance in _Inferno,_ (Italian for “hell”) the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri’s epic poem _Divine Comedy._ He rescues the narrator—Dante himself—from three beasts and escorts him through Hell and the greater part of Purgatory. While it can be clearly juxtaposed with the second half of “ACCEPTING ANXIETY,” it can also be tied to how Virgil “protects” Thomas, and the Core Sides to some extent, from _three_ Dark Sides. Virgil seems to consider that as what his job should be, as hinted in his personal dialogue with Thomas in “Dealing with INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS”— 

_I- I just... I'm a little disappointed in myself. I thought that I would be able to... protect you from them._

_Mm? Uh, the Dark Sides?_

_The others. I... I thought... I thought I knew how to handle them._

_Oh, well, I- I think we're all trying to figure them out for now. I-It'll take some time to figure everything out._

_Yeah, but I should know better._

_Isn't that kind of unfair? Why should you be held to a different standard than any other side?_

_Because I was one of them._

~~Sorry not sorry for the surprise attack of angst, whoooooops.~~

Technically, if it is derived from V **e** rgilius, Virgil’s name has been misspelled. But no worries—as mentioned earlier, both are acceptable. By the 4th or 5th century AD, V **e** rgilius was corrupted to V **i** rgilius, and the latter spelling spread to the modern European languages. The “typo” remained unfixed all the way till the 15th century, when the classical scholar named Poliziano showed Vergilius to be the original spelling. 

However, it is speculated that the typo was intentional, for the sake of… *Patton voice intensified* _pun._

Medieval legends attributed magical powers to Vergilius, and the magical wand in Latin is “virga.” (It also means twig, young shoot, rod, staff, and walking stick.) It is also a possible call to a Latin word “virgo,” (as anyone who was born in between August 22 and September 22 or just a big astrology person might have guessed correctly, yes it means “virgin”) which would be a reference to the fourth _Eclogue,_ Vergilius’ another masterpiece. It talks about a history of Christian and specifically Messianic interpretation, which is based upon the belief in the advent of a messiah who acts as the savior or liberator of a group of people. 

Although the meaning of Vergilius is unknown, “Virgil” is theorized to be deviated from the word “vigil” as mentioned in the Q & A. It is derived from a Latin word “vigilia” (wakefulness, watch) which is derived from “vigil” (awake, watching, alert.) “Vigilance” has the same origin as well. "Vigil" is related to another Latin word "vigor" (vigor, liveliness, power, strength) which comes from "vigeō." (to thrive, flourish) It clearly reflects how Virgil aspires to be the “protector” of Thomas, as he confessed in “ACCEPTING ANXIETY.”

_Putting on a dark persona is the best way to get anyone's guard up. But all this reflecting and working on your issues with us has gotten me to think that... I overdo it._

But yes Thomathy, I too like a name starting with the letter V. Especially if it has just a little essence of a nerdiness—nerdy enough to be embarrassed about it.

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** Janus /ˈd͡ʒeɪ.nəs/ **

Janus is named after the Roman god of the same name, who is one of the few Roman Gods who do not have Greek equivalents. Janus is a god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces always looking in a different direction—one to the past, another to the future—just like a door that faces both inside and outside. Janus’ half human, half snake face alongside his two-headed snake sigil reflect this aspect. His other name “Ianus Bifrons” indicates this as well, meaning “Two-faced Janus.” (His other name also includes “Ianuspater,” which means “Janus Father” and can be tied to his supposed parental role for Dark Sides.)

As a god of beginning and ending, Janus presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, thus war and peace. The gates of a building in Rome named after him were opened in time of war, and closed to mark the arrival of peace. Can’t this be juxtaposed with how Janus, or as he was initially known, Deceit brought the new perspective of approaching problems alongside his introduction to the series? In addition, Janus frequently symbolized time, change and transition of a time, condition, vision, and growth—young people’s growth to adulthood specifically. He also represented the middle ground between barbarism and civilization, rural and urban space, youth and adulthood. Remember how selfishness (in the name of self preservation) is considered “morally gray?” 

In fact, Janus was written as _IANVS_ and pronounced as /ˈjaːnʊs/ ( _yanus_ , a as in f **a** ther and ʊ as in p **u** t) in Latin. This brings up several explanations to be made:

First, alphabets were initially written in majuscule (capital) letters. Roman majuscule was used from 7th century BCE to 4th century CE, and the minuscule (lowercase) letters were developed in the Middle Ages. 

Second, the Old Latin alphabet only consisted of 21 letters: it is the version you know well (the one with 26 letters!) minus J, U, W, Y, and Z. Classical Latin alphabet added Y and Z from Greek letters after the Roman conquest of Greece in the 1st century BC. The sound “Y” makes in English is transcribed as voiced palatal approximant /j/ in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet.) If this reminds you of how “J” is pronounced in German, do not worry, you are perfectly fine. The sound “J” makes in English is transcribed as voiced postalveolar affricate /d͡ʒ/, as can be seen in the IPA transcription of Janus’ name. 

In Latin, /j/ generally appeared only at the beginning of words and before a vowel, except in compound words. Similarly, in modern English “J” always has a vowel following it—in other words, there is no possible consonant combination with J. In addition, J is the fourth least frequently used letter in words, but it is quite common in proper nouns, especially personal names. The /j/ sound was indicated as the combination of “I” and a vowel, like how “I” and “A” in “IANVS” are combined to sound like “Ya.” Similarly, “I” and “E” in “IESVS” create “Ye”—and if you guessed correctly, congratulations! IESVS is Latin spelling of Jesus. While “J” was treated as a variant of “I,” it was not until the good old Renaissance era between 15th and 16th centuries did the differentiation of “I” and “J” was settled, the former being classified as a vowel and the latter as a consonant. 

Last but not least, in a similar fashion to “J,” “U” was not introduced to Latin alphabet till the late Middle Ages as a variant of “V.” In Classical Latin, V is the name for its usage of both consonance and vowel, and it has long close back rounded vowel /uː/ sound. When “I” and “J” were differentiated, so were “V” and “U”—the former to be a consonant and the latter to be a vowel. 

In addition, the first month of the year is generally believed to be named after Janus—fitting for a god of “beginning.” January is derived from iānuārius, which means “(month) of Janus.” However, according to ancient Roman farmers' almanacs, Juno—Roman equivalent of Hera, queen of the gods, goddess of married life as well as all aspects of the life of women, and the patron goddess of Rome and the Roman Empire—was the tutelary (guardian) deity of the month. Still, that fits Janus’ supposed position as a parental figure for Dark Sides pretty well, doesn’t it? But his “birthday,” or the time he made his first appearance, is not in January—it is February 3rd. Well, do you know who _else_ has a birthday in January? _Patton,_ of all Sides, the “counter” of Janus, on January 15. 

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** Remus /ˈɹi.məs/ **

As confirmed by Thomas in a public live stream, Remus is named after Romulus’ twin brother of the same name. The twins were the legendary founder of Rome from Roman mythology. Though, they might be more known for the tragic end of their brotherhood.

The mother of Romulus and Remus, Rhea Silvia was a princess of Alba Longa. However, when her father, king Numitor was displaced by his brother Amulius, she was demoted to be a vestal virgin, a priestess of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, home and family whose Greek equivalent is Hestia. One day, Mars, a Roman god of War whose Greek equivalent is Ares, fell in love with her and got Rhea conceived with twins. Seeing this pregnancy (that was not supposed to happen) as a possible threat to his rule, King Amulius ordered them to be killed as soon as the twins were born. They were abandoned on the bank of the Tiber river to die, but were saved by a she-wolf.

Eventually they were adopted by a shepherd named Faustulus. Although they grew up being unaware of their true identities, they exhibited natural leadership and earned a company of supporters from the community. When they were young adults, they were involved in a dispute between supporters of Numitor and Amulius, which caused Remus to be taken prisoner to Alba Longa. While both his grandfather and the king suspected his origin, Romulus set out a rescue plan with help from the city. Once the twins learnt of their past, they killed Amulius and restored their grandfather Numitor to the throne.

Then the twins decided to build a city of their own. However, they had a conflict over where to build it. The quarrel became an actual fight, which ended with Romulus killing Remus. Although he founded the city of Rome at the site he wanted—Palatine Hill (palātium,) where the word "paladin" meaning "a heroic (especially knightly) champion, a defender or advocate of a noble cause (faith)" originates from—and reigned as the first king for many years, Romulus regretted killing his brother.

Interestingly, Remus’ name may have initially meant “twin,” being derived from a Proto-Indo-European (theorized common ancestor of Indo-European language family, of which Latin belongs) word “yémHos.” The initial R- was probably added to make it sound more like Romulus. It can be tied to how Remus is “the unloved brother” who is overshadowed by Roman.

It is interesting to note how the difference of the rank of prince and duke is not clearly defined. 

A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. It is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. It is derived from the Latin noun “prīnceps,” a composite of “primus” (first) and “capio” (to seize) thus means “the first (in time or order,)” “foremost,” “the chief,” “most eminent, distinguished, or noble.” Its female equivalent is princess. 

On the other hand, a duke is a monarch ranked below the emperor, king, and grand duke ruling over a duchy or a member of royalty or nobility, historically of highest rank, below princes of nobility and grand dukes. It is derived from the Latin noun “dux” meaning “leader, general.” Its female equivalent is duchess. A duke is the member of the nobility, the ruler of a county or territory, but does not necessarily have to be a member of the royal family. 

The supremacy of the title of “prince” depends on how you earned it. If you are a prince because you are a descendant of a king, you are above dukes. If you are a prince because you own a principality, you are below dukes. While in countries that were influenced by France—such as Britain, Spain, and the Netherlands—”prince” is more superior than “duke.” However, in Germany, “herzog” (translation of “duke”) is more superior than “fürst” (translation of “prince.”) 

Conclusion: their status changes based on the country, just like how there is no “superior,” or in this case, “more important” creativity between Roman and Remus.

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**Thomas Sanders /ˈtɑm.əs ˈsæn.dəɹz/**

In addition, the name Thomas comes from an Aramic (a language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and was used throughout the ancient Middle East) name תאומא /tɑʔwmɑʔ/ (ʔ is not a weird question mark missing a dot below—it is a symbol for glottal plosive, a consonant sound produced by obstructing airflow in the glottis) which means "twin" and "leader." Thomas has been the ninth most popular name in the US over the last century. 

Sanders is a patronymic (name based on the given name of one's father) name of the given name Sander, a medieval form or Alexander. So it means “son of Alexander.” Specifically, it is derived from one of its diminutives, Xander. Alexander is a latinized form of the Greek name Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros) which is a composite of ἀλέξω (alexo) meaning "to defend, help" and ἀνήρ (aner) meaning “man.” Thus the name Alexander means “defender of the people” or “defending man.” 

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**Nico Flores /ˈni.ko ˈflo.ɾes/**

~~Yes I had to do one for Nico. Solely because I am a bastard nerd who does not know how to be goddamn satisfied~~

Nico is a diminutive of a name Nicolás /ni.ko.ˈlas/, the Spanish form of Nicholas. /ˈnɪk.ə.ləs/ It is derived from the Greek name Νικόλαος (Nikolaos) which is a composite of νίκη (nike) meaning “victory” and λαός (laos) meaning “people.” So it means “victory of the people.”

Flores is a Spanish patronymic name that means “son of Floro.” Floro comes from Latin “flos” meaning "flower." Flower is a common theme in Thomas’ shirt designs, and different flowers have different symbolism. I found [an AMAZING analysis](https://beauty-and-passion.tumblr.com/post/634607442287820800/time-to-talk-about-the-flower-shirt) about the flowers on “The Flower Shirt,” and you should definitely check that out too. 

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**Alphabets**

Of course, as you might have (correctly) assumed, being a helpless nerd—I guess I am more of a nerd than geek—I am, I could NOT be satisfied with just an etymological and phonetic approach. So I decided to analyze probably the most basic element: the alphabet. Specifically, the initials of the characters. 

A B C D E F G H I **J** K **L** M N O **P** Q **R** S T U **V** W X Y Z

~~Sorry Remus, I totally did not mean to let you be overshadowed by your brother—~~

And being a math nerd as much as I am a linguistics nerd, I caught an intriguing trend: **J** is the tenth letter in the modern English alphabet. **L** is the 12th, **P** is the 16th, **R** is the 18th, and **V** is the 22nd. All of them are even numbers. But it gets even more interesting: the Dark Sides’ numbers (since Remus also claims **R** ) are not multiples of 4 while Core Sides’ are. This rule also applies to Thomas—T is the 20th letter. And Nico, with the 14th letter in the alphabet as his initial, can be the possible bringer of new problems/challenges/dilemmas, (however your interpretation would be) just like how the Dark Sides brought the new perspective of solving a problem. 

Another approach I did was frequency analysis. This might sound familiar to people who have read either Poe's "The Gold Bug" or Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Dancing Men” (or even both—but with the former published in 1843 and the latter in 1903, the striking similarity of the trick is too sus… picious.) Cracking the substitution cipher with finding “E,” the most common letter in English, as so on? That thing. Unfortunately the datas I found kept showing different order, so I settled on this version of letter frequency in the English language:

E T A O I N S **R** H **L** D C U M F **P** G W Y B **V** K X **J** Q Z

For frequency I decided the specific numeric order did not matter. Yet I was still amused to find how the order matches Fanders’ general fanon regarding the height difference: the twins being the tallest, Logan being taller than Patton but smaller than the twins, Virgil being a small emo stormcloud, and Janus being the smallest snek boi. 

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**Headcanon Time!**

Initially, I headcanoned the Orange Side’s name to be Marcus, /ˈmɑɹ.kəs/ Marc for short. It can possibly mean “dedicated to Mars,” a Roman god of War whose Greek equivalent is Ares. I headcanoned Orange to be in charge of anger and/or ignorance, something that would "blind" Thomas, preventing him (and the other Sides) from seeing the things "right" and countering Logan’s sharp logic that “won” against all of the other Dark Sides (if “My NEGATIVE Thinking” is considered as one against Virgil.) And Ares’ _fiery_ personality fit that quite well. Plus it can be tied to the twins, since "anger" can be an inspiration for an artwork—creatively expressing anger—and Mars is godly father of Romulus and Remus. Yes I will admit, I was quite heartbroken when I found the rule and “M” does not fit in.

But after further research, I found another name that fit all the rules and was… actually better: _Fergus._

It ends with "-us"— _check._ "F" is the sixth letter in the alphabet— _double check._ Six is an even number that is _not_ a multiple of four— _triple check._ The last vowel in its IPA transcription /ˈfɜːɹ.ɡəs/ is good old schwa, (ə) the mid central vowel— _all clear._

Actually, the last rule applies to everyone, even Thomas and Nico, if his full name is Nicholas /ˈnɪk.ə.ləs/—although, the Spanish spelling and pronunciation in respect to his hispanic aspect would be Nicolás /ni.ko.ˈlas/—which would establish another rule of Core Sides' names ending with "-an/-on" and "-ən" sound, Dark Sides' with "-us" and "-əs" sound, human characters' with "-as" and "-əs" sound as well. However, there is one exception— _Virgil._ Can it be an implication of how Virgil is the "non-binary" Side, who is both _and_ neither Core Side and/nor Dark Side?

Fergus is a common Scottish or Irish (which can be tied to Thomas' maternal great-grandfather being born in Ireland) name that is an anglicized form of Fearghas. Fearghas can be either the composite of two Old Irish words—“fear” meaning “man” and “gus” meaning “vigour, fierceness”—or the derivation from the Old Irish “Fearg,” which means “wrath.” So the name means “man of vigour,” “man-strength, virility” or “the wrathful (one.)” There cannot be a better name for the “angry” side than the name that literally means “the wrathful one.” 

While Janus would simply call him by full name or “Fergie,” Remus definitely would call Fergus “big F.” And Roman definitely would make fun of his name just like he did to other Dark Sides sans his brother. Convince me otherwise. 

In addition, I am certain almost all fanders suspect the Orange Side’s (and previously, Deceit’s) real name to be Ethan, derived from the last mode of persuasion. Although I too love that name (and saved it for my hypothesis on the Sides’ backstory, of which I would be honored to share if you are interested in the future,) I found another intriguing option: _Zacharias._

Turns out there is actually a fourth mode of persuasion that is (sadly) often ignored. Kairos means the right, critical, or opportune moment. An orator can utilise the time to their advantage for persuasion, such as creating pressure, sales, and discounts. It is derived from Ancient Greek καιρός (kairós) which means “measure,” “proportion,” “period (of time,)” “season,” “time,” and “opportunity.” You might be familiar with another Ancient Greek word that means “time,” as hinted in the words like “chronicle” and ‘chronograph.” While “chronos” (χρόνος, khrónos) refers to a period, “kairos” signifies a shorter, opportune time for action. Doesn’t “Zacharias” sound like “kairos?”

Zacharias /ˌzæk.ə.ˈɹaɪ.əs/ is a Greek form of “Zechariah,” which comes from the Hebrew name זְכַרְיָה (Zekharyah) meaning "Yahweh remembers," the composite of זָכַר (zakhar) meaning "to remember" and יָה (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. With Z being the 26th (and last, fitting for the last Side to be revealed) alphabet, it fits the “number rule,” since 26 is an even number that is not a multiple of 4. It also contains schwa sound at the end, but sadly defies the “-us” rule. But that rule can have a slight variant, just like how Patton’s name ends with “-on” not “-an” (they still end with the same sound nonetheless.) Plus it can also show how he is the most “human” side that does not hesitate to express an emotion. 

Whoever the last Side will be—Marc, Fergie, Zach, whatever—I do not doubt we will love him!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. As you might've read, I have quite a forte(?) in infodumping. 
> 
> Oh shut up Jasper. And stop that Cheshire Cat Grin. You creepy cookie. You oatmeal raisin cookie that's primarily composed of raisins. You raisin oatmeal cookie. 
> 
> (Translation: everyone say hi to Jasper aka my intelligent Side)
> 
> I hope all of you enjoyed reading it, and thanks to everyone who read this lengthy nasty thing. Please don't hesitate to tell me how you thought of it in the comments!
> 
> And until next time, take it easy guys, gals and non-binary pals. PEACE OUT!


	2. Rainbow Flag and Wheel and Spectrum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now we shift to possibly the simplest concept: colors.
> 
> But no, colors can actually derive the most complicated and deepest analysis.
> 
> Here I will jump from physics to humanity and do my best to interpret the color symbolism of the Sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back! After eternity! With new analysis! Before the new semester begins!
> 
> As I was adding more information and making more connections in this one, I was afraid it was getting longer beyond my control and might intimidate readers (including you,) but it was actually shorter than first chapter.
> 
> Cue confusion.

**The ‘Original’ Pride Flag**

As we all know at this point, the color palette of the Sides comes from rainbow flag, the most prominent symbol of LGBTQ+, because Thomas could always be gayer. It is the most convincing evidence that predicts the future introduction of the Orange Side (or as I named him in the last chapter, Marcus, Fergus, Zacharias, whatever.) It also explains why white is Thomas' color; when white light travels through a prism, it spreads into a spectrum (the phenomenon known as 'dispersion.') In other words, white light is a combination of every other colored light, just like how Thomas embraces each and every Side. 

Wait... doesn't rainbow have seven colors? ROY G BIV? Then why is there only six—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet—colors in the rainbow flag? Well, the original flag designed by Gilbert Baker, an openly gay activist, in 1978 actually had eight colors:

**Hot pink** , representing “sex”

**Red** , representing “life”

**Orange** , representing “healing”

**Yellow** , representing “sunlight”

**Green** , representing “nature”

**Turquoise** , representing “magic” and “art”

**Indigo** , representing “serenity”

**Violet** , representing “spirit”

Before Baker designed the flag, a pink triangle was used as a symbol for LGBT Movement. But it represented a dark chapter in the history of same-sex rights—its origin belongs to one of the darkest chapters in human history. Nazis used upside-down triangle badges to ‘label’ their prisoners in concentration camps:

**Red** triangle represented political prisoners.

**Green** triangle represented convicts and criminals.

**Blue** triangle represented foreign forced laborers and emigrants.

**Black** triangle represented those who were deemed asocial elements and work-shy.

**Purple** triangle represented primarily Jehovah’s Witnesses and members of other small pacifist religious groups.

**Pink** triangle represented primarily homosexual men and other LGBTs, as well as sexual offenders like pedophiles and zoophiles (though the paraphilic do NOT belong in LGBT.)

Prisoners with a pink triangle were harshly treated, even by other prisoners. In addition, if a prisoner was also identified as Jewish, the triangle was put above a yellow second triangle to resemble the Star of David, just like another yellow badge Nazis used to identify other jews. Understandably, the activists did not want to use this tool of oppression as a symbol that represents themselves. Instead, they wanted a new symbol that will capture ‘the dawn of a new gay consciousness and freedom.’ 

The possible inspiration for Baker’s rainbow design is “Over the Rainbow,” a song by Judy Garland, who is one of the first gay icons for several reasons. First and foremost, her performing ability attracted admirations from lots of gay fans. Even nowadays, the musical theatre community is closely associated with LGBTQ community. But in the 1940s and 1950s, musical culture WAS a gay men’s culture. Those two cultures were inseparable. In addition, her tragic lifelong struggle under the pressure of early stardom and media portrayal mirrored those of gay men in the US. Furthermore, some seek a connection between her death (June 22, 1969) and the Stonewall riots (which continued from June 28, 1969 to July 3, 19669,) which, as you can catch, began several days after her death. 

The demand from the rainbow flag increased after the assassination of gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk—who also challenged with Baker to design a new symbol—on November 27, 1978. During the process of mass production, the hot pink stripe was removed due to the unavailability of hot pink fabric. Later in 1979, there was another modification: the flag needed an even number of stripes to be split into two to decorate the two sides of the route for the 1979 San Francisco parade. To meet the demand, turquoise and indigo were merged into royal blue. Thus the version with six colors we know was born.

Can this change imply the existence of other Sides who 'disappeared?' Or can Logan and Patton fuse into one solid Side? Just like how turquoise and indigo was combined into royal blue? Then would the union of brain and heart be in charge of decision making?

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**Electromagnetic Spectrum**

Confession: I was a physics kid in high school. 

Correction: I was THE only physics kid in high school.

To my defense, my high school was new and small—it opened in 2010 and there were about 130 people in my class—and there was only one physics class (expected fate of IB physics) with about 20 people. And I was the only one who actually enjoyed physics as in both class and subject. So prepare yourself for this unwanted physics lesson:

Rainbow, or visible light, is the only portion of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum that can be perceived by human eyes. There are other waves in the spectrum that are simply not visible to our eyes.

**Radio waves** : frequency less than 3 * 10^11 Hz, wavelength greater than 1 * 10^-3 m

**Microwaves** : frequency 3 * 10^11 ~ 1 * 10^13 Hz, wavelength 2.5 * 10^-5 ~ 1 * 10^-3 m

**Infrared** : frequency 1 * 10^13 ~ 1 * 10^14 Hz, wavelength 2.5 * 10^-6 ~ 2.5 * 10^-5 m

**Near-infrared** : frequency 1 * 10^14 ~ 4 * 10^14 Hz, wavelength 7.5 * 10^-7 ~ 2.5 * 10^-6 m 

**Visible** : frequency 4 ~ 7.5 * 1 * 10^14 Hz, wavelength 4 * 10^-7 ~ 7.5 * 10^-7 m 

**Ultraviolet** : frequency 1 * 10^15 ~ 1 * 10^17 Hz, wavelength 1 * 10^-9 ~ 4 * 10^-7 m

**X-rays** : frequency 1 * 10^17 ~ 1 * 10^20 Hz, wavelength 1 * 10^-12 ~ 1 * 10^-9 m 

**Gamma-rays** : frequency 1 * 10^20 ~ 1 * 10^24 Hz, wavelength less than 1 * 10^-12 m 

As you can see, wavelength and frequency have an inverse correlation: if the wavelength increases, then the frequency decreases. This can be summarized into one formula:

**v = λ·f**

The mystery symbol λ (lambda) represents wavelength, measured in meters. (m) v represents velocity (of a wave,) measured in meters per second. (m/s, or because IBDP physics is deeply implanted into my consciousness, ms^-1) And f represents frequency, measured in hertz (Hz, which is equivalent to 1/s and s^-1) 

So the million dollar question: what happens to velocity if wavelength increases and frequency decreases? Answer: it does not change! Electromagnetic waves, regardless of wavelength and/or frequency, always travel at the speed of light, (299,792,458 m/s, or more simply, 3 * 10^8 m/s) commonly denoted as c.

Being the portion of the EM spectrum, similar trend can be found in visible light. Red light has the longest wavelength and the lowest frequency while violet light has the shortest wavelength and the highest frequency. That is why the red ‘line’ is shown to be the longest and the violet line shortest in the rainbow. 

**Red** : frequency 4 * 10^14 ~ 4.84 * 10^14 Hz, wavelength 6.2 * 10^-7 ~ 7.5 * 10^-7 m

**Orange** : frequency 4.84 * 10^14 ~ 5.08 * 10^14 Hz, wavelength 5.9 * 10^-7 ~ 6.2 * 10^-7 m

**Yellow** : frequency 5.08 * 10^14 ~ 5.26 * 10^14 Hz, wavelength 5.7 * 10^-7 ~ 5.9 * 10^-7 m

**Green** : frequency 5.26 * 10^14 ~ 6.06 * 10^14 Hz, wavelength 4.95 * 10^-7 ~ 5.7 * 10^-7 m

**Blue** : frequency 6.06 * 10^14 ~ 6.3 * 10^14 Hz, wavelength 4.75 * 10^-7 ~ 4.95 * 10^-7 m

**Indigo** : frequency 6.3 * 10^14 ~ 6.68 * 10^14 Hz, wavelength 4.5 * 10^-7 ~ 4.75 * 10^-7 m

**Violet** : frequency 6.68 * 10^14 ~ 7.89 * 10^14 Hz, wavelength 3.8 * 10^-7 ~ 4.5 * 10^-7 m

Newton, who admitted his eyes were not very critical in distinguishing colors, initially identified five colors from the rainbow spectrum: red, yellow, green, blue and violet. Later he added two more colors—orange and indigo—to assign each color to the notes in a musical scale. Or possibly, the ancient Greek sophists’ belief regarding the existence of the connection among the colors, the musical notes (C, D, E, F, G, A, B or Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti—seven); the known objects in the Solar System (the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn—seven again); and the days of the week (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday—seven as well) could have affected his classification. 

Furthermore, the colors Newton called blue and indigo would be regarded as cyan and blue, which are actually closer to color schemes of Patton and Logan. In addition, note how Virgil’s signature color is called purple, not violet. Violet is a spectral color, the color of different single wavelengths of light. It specifically is the color of light at the short wavelength end of the visible spectrum (and at the opposite long wavelength end lies the color red.) On the other hand, purple refers to any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue—the combination of red and blue (or violet) light. In terms of RGB and Hex code, violet is a combination of red component with half intensity and blue component with maximum intensity, while purple is a combination of red component and blue component, both with half intensity. In short, violet is ‘bluer’ while purple is ‘redder.’ The visible light spectrum extends from red to violet. So technically, Virgil of purple does NOT belong in the visible light spectrum. (However, the shade different artists pick to color Virgil's clothes and/or hair varies from purple to violet, and people tend to not distinguish purple and violet.)

Going back to the frequency; frequency of a wave means the number of its occurrence per unit of time. If 3 complete waves pass in 5 seconds, then the frequency of each wave would be 3/5 Hz. Inversely, its period, the duration of time of one cycle in a repairing event, would be 5/3 sec, for period is the reciprocal of the frequency. Waves with higher frequency (and shorter wavelength) carry more energy thus are more dangerous. It can be expressed as this equation:

**E = h·f = h·c / λ**

E represents energy, measured in joule. (J) and h is Planck constant (6.626 * 10^−34 Js). f is frequency, c is speed of light, and λ is wavelength, as denoted earlier. 

As the equation suggests, energy has a positive correlation with frequency, and inversely negative correlation with wavelength. EM-type ionizing radiation (emission or transmission of sufficient energy to detach electrons from atoms or molecules—thereby ionizing them—that travels as a particle or EM wave) extends from the extreme ultraviolet to all X-rays and gamma rays. Too much exposure to these waves can cause cancer.

The real reason we see a rainbow is because of:

**reflection** , a change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium it originated from;

**refraction** , a change in direction of a wave passing from one medium to another or a gradual change in the medium;

and **dispersion** , a phenomenon in which the phase velocity of a wave depends on its frequency

of light in water droplets that makes a spectrum of (visible) light appear in the sky in the form of a multicolored circular arc.

When light enters a drop of water (that pretty much acts like a prism,) it is reflected from the back of the drop. The light is also refracted both as it enters and leaves the drop. Because frequency does not change in refraction, wavelength determines the refractive index of a material, a number that describes how fast light travels through the medium. It is defined as:

**n = c / v**

As explained earlier, c represents the speed of light, and v represents the phase velocity, also measured in m/s.

The higher wavelength would derive smaller refractive index, and lower wavelength would derive greater refractive index. Therefore the violet light wave, with the greatest refractive index, is refracted at the greater angle than red light, but emerges from the droplet at a smaller angle to the original white light ray due to the reflection occurring at the back of the droplet. The differences in refracting angles ‘spreads’ the white light into the full spectrum, with red light shown on the outer side of the arc, and the violet light shown on the inner side of the arc. 

So to tie everything back to the Sides:

Virgil, being the purple side that ‘surpasses’ the frequency range of the rainbow/visible ray spectrum, would have the most power (though, in physics, energy—total amount of work done—and power—how fast you can do work—are different concepts) thus be the most ‘dangerous’ and ‘destructive’ one, fitting his status as anxiety… and his possible past as paranoia. In addition, having the highest refractive index, Virgil is the one with the most ‘bent’ or ‘twisted’ mind, as shown through his ‘self-deprecating emo’ and notably pessimistic/cynical personality.

The spectrum also explains why Roman was especially antagonistic against Virgil, unlike Patton and Logan, who was more understanding of Anxiety. Roman, as the red one, is located at the opposite end of the spectrum. To Roman, with the longest wavelength and lowest refractive index, Virgil of purple could not help but seem as potentially dangerous (especially to him.) 

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**Completing the Color Wheel...**

The spectrum is a continuous set of wavelengths of light. Keyword: continuous. 

Because further red of the first supplementary rainbow overlaps the violet of the primary rainbow, rather than the final color being a variant of spectral violet, it is actually a purple. Virgil is the one who actually completes the cycle!

When we divide HSV/RGB color wheel by 30°, we end up having 12 colors since 360 / 30 = 12. 

**Red Orange  Yellow Chartreuse  Green  Spring green  Cyan  Azure  Blue  Violet  Magenta  Rose**

Human eyes perceive green more readily than any other color because color perception is a combined work of rod cells and cone cells. Cone cells respond differently to light of different wavelengths, and are thus mostly responsible for color vision. On the other hand, while rod cells have little role in color vision, they function in lower light better and more sensitive to light, and are thus almost entirely responsible for night vision. Ultimately, this is a result of adaptation to the interaction with natural world in abundance of chlorophyll, a pigment that paints the plants in various colors of green.

While human eyes see more shades of green than any other colors, however, people do not distinguish three different shades of green in the spectrum. Thus people perceive 6 or 7 colors from a rainbow. It might be also related to the culture and language the viewer grew up with; recent research found that people whose language has fewer color words see fewer discrete color bands, suggesting that the number of distinct colors observed and what these are called depend on the language that one uses. An example of this phenomenon is the distinction of ‘blue’ and ‘green’ in a language—some express two colors using a single cover term.

If you take a closer look at the spectrum, you would be able to notice that the range of colors we typically call rainbow (ROY G BIV) occupy only ¾(=270°) of the full cycle. Remember the existence of other colors that complete the color wheel.

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**...And Dividing it Again**

Colors are often divided into two categories: warm colors and cool colors. In the RGB wheel above, usually the group of colors that ranges from green to blue (Green  Spring green  Cyan  Azure  Blue) is considered as cool colors, and another group that ranges from magenta to yellow (Magenta  Rose Red  Orange  Yellow) is considered as warm colors. Whether you identify chartreuse as warm or cool color (and inversely, violet as cool or warm color) is your choice. 

Heeeeey, don’t you sense another symbolism? Violet can be either warm or cool color—depending on the viewer—just like how Virgil is a former Dark Side now adjusting to the Core Side. After all, purple is the color most associated with ambiguity and ambivalence, being an uncertain and equivocal color that is a combination of two contrasting primary colors.

The current Core Sides (Roman Virgil Logan Patton) create one gradation, and the Dark Sides create another. (Remus Janus ‘Orange’) But if we stick to the warm/cool color categorization, wouldn’t it make more sense if forbidden creativity was red (like the color of blood?) That way the Core Sides would have cool colors and the Dark Sides would have warm colors. In addition, as I explained in the previous chapter, blue and violet lights have higher frequency and energy. That would explain why they are the more ‘influential’ Side to Thomas.

The LGBT symbolism of pink can further explain why ‘Pink’—and other warm colored/Dark Sides—was consciously hidden away from Thomas (possibly by Morality.) Because, surprise, there was a time when being LGBT was considered ‘not nice.’ Plus pink is considered a ‘girly’ color, and it surely would not have seemed to fit Thomas.

However, it was not until the 1940s when pink was beginning to be generally associated with girls and blue with boys. Previously, pink was considered as a masculine color, for being the lighter shade of red, the color that is most associated with courage, hatred, anger, aggression, and war thus the ‘masculine’ color. In contrast, being the color of the sky and ocean, blue was viewed as a calm and serene color, thus the ‘feminine’ color.

So why can’t we assume something similar happened to the twins already? Just like how gender signifying colors changed, the ‘creativity signifying’ colors may have changed over time. Red creativity might have been the ‘bad one’ and green creativity might have been the ‘good one.’

Red was long seen as having a dark side, particularly in Christian theology. Among Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the rider of red horse symbolizes war or mass slaughter. Because of its close connection to violence and danger, it was associated with sexual passion, sin, seduction, sexuality, eroticism, immorality (which is especially interesting because cyan is the complementary color of red in RGB wheel) and the devil.

While red is a bloody and violent color, also being the color that most attracts attention, it acquired additional symbolism and association. Red is the color that energizes people and stimulates appetite and sexual desire, thus is the color most frequently associated with visibility, proximity, dynamism, activity, and extroverts—all of which fits Princey’s big ego well.

On the other hand, due to the abundance in the natural world, green is associated with safety, vivacity, life, health, freshness, hope, youth, calmness, and tolerance. However it has negative associations as well; it is linked to jealousy and envy, thanks to Shakespeare’s famous expression “green-eyed monster.” While it is considered a ‘healthy’ color, the color green also suggests toxicity, poison, nausea, and sickness.

In addition, dragons are often painted green, possibly inspired by its reptilian ~~rapscallion~~ feature, and eventually it was associated with other monsters as well. It was also the color of the serpent in the Garden of Eden who tricked Adam and Eve to commit the first sin of humanity. While it is not tied to love and sexuality as much as its complementary color, back in stories of the medieval period, it sometimes represented love and the base, natural desires of man. Maybe medieval people were focusing more on the ‘natural’ part than ‘desire?’ Later in Victorian England, the color green was associated with homosexuality.

So long story short: just like how colors have both positive and negative symbolism and association, Sides have both positive and negative functions. So putting this label of being good/bad is unwise, because all of the Sides—and Thomas himself too—are changing all the time.

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**The Invisible One?**

As this ‘rainbow theory’ is accepted as a fanon, many Fanders see ‘Orange’ as the last Side to make an appearance on the screen. But what if there are other Sides that exist but simply do not appear on the series? Or what if they are not as influential as the ones we met thus are ‘stuck’ in the unconsciousness and invisible to Thomas?

What if the pink Side is the ‘forgotten’ Side? His color can be hot pink, tying to the LGBT movement symbolism, and the fact how prisoners with a pink triangle were particularly harshly treated in Nazi’s concentration camps. Though, the Sides will not be cruel to him, just ignoring or being unaware of his influence. Or he can be also colored magenta or rose, the color that completes the color wheel.

Can he be Ethan? The one who would complete the modes of persuasion? The one who would be named after ethos, the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology? Then the reason he stays in the unconsciousness could be because his name begins with an odd numbered alphabet, as I established in the first chapter. Ethos may change in response to new ideas or forces, just like how Thomas’ character could have changed over time, and Ethan could have eventually sunk to the unconsciousness. 

One theory I like is that Virgil underwent through an invert of what happened with Roman and Remus. Anxiety could be the ‘fusion’ of two Sides, thus a Side neither fully Light nor fully Dark. Mixing violet and magenta creates electric purple—in fact you would end up with any shade of purple if you mix shade of violet/purple with pink/magenta. The violet (Core, if we stick to the warm/cool color theory) Side and the pink (Dark) Side could have fused and create the neutral purple anxious Side. Not only it agrees with my view on Virgil (the ‘non-binary’ one) and the color purple’s association with ambivalence, but it can also be tied to a certain concept I encountered while I was researching concepts and symbolisms that could be possibly tied to the series.

In 1980, Robert Plutchik created a diagram that was composed of a wheel with eight ‘petals’ that each represented what he identified as eight fundamental emotions: joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger and anticipation. He hypothesized various human feelings were composed of two or three emotions. I will talk more about this wheel of emotions and connect it to the Sides in the future. But I shall conclude this long contemplation by dropping these ideas that I hope to intrigue you and make you to ponder on this possible theory further before I return with another research: 

Plutchik viewed anxiety (or dread) as a combination of anticipation and fear. 

The ‘intense’ emotion of fear (or fright) is terror (or panic.)

And the intense emotion of anticipation is _vigilance_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to blame my intelligent Side AKA raisin oatmeal cookie AKA Jasper. Yes he is grinning creepily at the corner.
> 
> But who knows, my creative Side will not be satisfied unless I write a fanfic built on my contemplation...
> 
> *insert suffering noise*
> 
> Again, thank you so much for reading to my long essay and leaving kudos! Please don't hesitate to tell me how you thought of it in the comments!
> 
> And until next time, take it easy guys, gals and non-binary pals. PEACE OUT!


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